Wall Street 24/7 says Kentucky no longer the worst-run state

The online site Wall Street 24/7 moved Kentucky from being the worst-run state in the country to 44th after the commonwealth made gains in high school diplomas and had a drop in violent crime.

California dropped to the 50th spot amid the weight of its debt, according to the site. Illinois, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada and South Carolina also fell below Kentucky this year.

The site caused a stir last year when it ranked Kentucky 50th, giving fodder to many political challengers, especially critics of Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear. Ads by Republican challenger David Williams and the GOP group Restoring America cited the ranking:

However, some other candidates who mentioned it incorrectly attributed the ranking to the Wall Street Journal or Forbes, which picked up the Wall Street 24/7 report.

Kentucky still has the 4th highest poverty rate in the nation (18.2%) and an unemployment rate of 9.7%, which is the 13th highest in the country. And it’s AA- credit rating is still a major concern, according to to the site’s post.

But Wall Street 24/7 said Kentucky saw enough meaningful gains to move it out of the lowest spot.

“The state saw slight improvements in the percentage of its population with high school diplomas and poverty rate,” the site’s analysis said.

That also included the rate of violent crimes dropping be the 10th lowest in the country.